"Away in a Manger" Sweet and Simple Nativity

Do you ever feel like Christ gets a little lost in the Christmas season?  I do.  So I wanted today's Sew a Song of Christmas project to remind us what Christmas is really about.

I did already make a wooden nativity set a couple years ago, but there's always room for another nativity set, right?   We will have fun playing with these cute little guys and teaching Boo and Daddy's Girl about when Christ was born.

This project was inspired by these adorable Princess Peg Dolls.  When I showed Boo this tutorial, she decided she wanted to paint a princess set.  So she did.  And they turned out really cute.  I'll have to show them to you later.

  

Besides the regular painting supplies, all you need for this project are eight wooden peg dolls.  I found mine at Hobby Lobby.  They come in packs of eight, so that worked out great!

These are the "Man" sized peg people; they also make "Boy" sized dolls, so you could make baby Jesus smaller than the others.  I didn't want Daddy's Girl to eat or lose the little baby Jesus, so I painted Him on Mary.  (The "Man" size are still a choking hazard, so be watchful if you have babies/toddlers.)

First, I painted their heads.  The nice thing about painting all the Nativity People at once is that by the time you've finished the last one, the first is dry already and you can go right to the next step.

Then I painted their clothes.  I decided this was a "less is more" kind of project, and painted their clothes really simply.  

I painted Mary in her traditional blue.  Joseph is dark blue so he feels like he belongs with Mary.  The shepherds are grey to show their humble state in life. (I would have done brown, but I couldn't mix a nice color.)  The three kings are rich, jewel-toned colors.  And of course, the angel is white.

I feel like the nativity set is already identifiable, but that's probably just me.  Let's add a little something, while still keeping them simple.

Mary is holding baby Jesus and wearing the blue head covering.  I didn't know what to do for Joseph; most nativity sets I've seen have him holding a shepherd's crook, which doesn't make any sense at all for the carpenter that he is.

 The angel gets a halo and wings.

The shepherds get a shepherd's crook and a lamb.

And the kings get crowns.  I thought about giving them gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but I went back to "less is more."

UPDATE:  I realized these guys should have a coat of clear polyurethane to protect them, but I haven't done that yet.

I think this little nativity set turned out so cute.  :)  

 Merry Christmas, everybody!  Only nine more days!

Don't miss the other posts in our Sew a Song of Christmas series!
"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Tulle Wreath
"O, Christmas Tree" Glitter Ball Ornaments
"What Child is This?" Mini Quilt
"Blue Christmas" Simple Holiday Skirts
"Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Ornaments
"Let It Snow" Mitten Ornaments

All Autumn Pumpkins Tutorial

 Last year about this time, I had a little tiny baby, a three-year-old, a Halloween party at church that I'd committed to bring table decorations to, and almost no time at all!  What Halloween decoration could I make really quickly?

If you were following my blog a couple years ago, you know I love pumpkins for Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations.  So I came up with the perfect quick, easy, and cheap Halloween decoration--pumpkins made from a 2x4!  And these pumpkins transition seamlessly from Halloween to Thanksgiving, so I was ready for all of autumn.

These pumpkins are so easy to make!  Watch this.

Short lengths of 2x4 + black spray paint + orange paint + sandpaper to distress + drill holes in the tops + glue in short, fat sticks from the backyard (or dowel rods, if you'd prefer) + raffia/hemp tied around pumpkin "stems."

And done.

If you like pumpkin decorations like I do, you may want to check out the other pumpkin projects I've made.  

Pumpkin Puzzle Blocks (with free printable)

Mason Jar Jack-O-Lantern Tutorial

Pumpkin Patch Wall Hanging (with pumpkin template)

Tin Can Jack-O-Lantern Tutorial

Fabric Pumpkin.  I didn't make a tutorial for this one, but I did find you some tutorials for similar projects.

DIY Simple Wooden Holy Family Nativity

Last Thursday, I went to a wonderful Christmas party put on by the women's organization in my church.  We had dinner, a really nice musical program (I didn't know there were so many talented people in my congregation!), and at the end of the night, they gave us these cute little nativities.

It would be really easy to make one of these for yourself.  And who wouldn't want one of these nativities to decorate their home?

You need:

Some wood  (see the dimensions in the picture above)

Three wooden knobs.  Baby Jesus's head is about 3/4" diameter; I forgot to put that in the picture.

Green, blue, and white crackle paint

Flesh-colored (non-crackle) paint

About 26" of twine

Hot glue

General painting supplies

UPDATE:  I've gotten lots of questions about where I got the wood for this project.  Like I said, I didn't make this nativity, but rather had it given to me at the end of this church activity.  I'm guessing that they got the wood at Home Depot/Lowe's/etc.

The process is pretty clear from the pictures, I think, so I won't write them out.  Here's a picture of the back, though.

Merry Christmas!

 Only six more days!!!

Thanksgiving Puzzle Blocks (Free Printable!)

{Looking for the flower clip giveaway?  Click here.  Remember, it ends Friday!}
{This giveaway is now closed.}

Thanks to my cousin who came up with this idea!  She wanted to make Thanksgiving Puzzle Blocks, like the Pumpkin Puzzle Blocks I did for Halloween.

Just print, cut, and decoupage onto nine 2" x 2" wood blocks.

No, I didn't forget to upload a picture.  The sixth side is for a family portrait!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

And happy crafting!

Pumpkin Puzzle Blocks!

That's it:  It is officially autumn.  The leaves are turning red, our garden (tiny as it is) is, well, about done of life, and my mom and I finished bottling applesauce this afternoon.  (Homemade applesauce is totally worth it, but, whew! what a job!)

Anyways, now for my favorite craft from the Craft Night:  Pumpkin Puzzle Blocks!

The original idea for these blocks was to cut six pictures of your family into 2x2 inch squares, and mod podge the pictures onto little 2x2 inch blocks, so you have a cute puzzle of your family members.

But I thought, It is October--wouldn't it be cute to make a Jack-O-Lantern puzzle?  What if you could have different faces, and be able to interchange the parts...

Maybe put three different mouths together...

Or have one eye have two pupils, and the other have none...

Yep, I wanted to do it.

Ready to make one, too?  You need:

to print out my pumpkin designs.  Or make your own.  If you make your own, be sure to have the points where the features cross the cut lines match on all the pumpkins; that way, each block will line up with blocks from other faces.  (Great idea, Mr. MadeIt!)  My pumpkin designs are at the bottom of this post.

nine 2x2 inch wooden blocks

Mod Podge (or water-down regular school glue to a nice paintable consistency)

 foam paintbrush

something to pour the Mod Podge on

Cut the Jack-O-Lanterns on the cut lines.  I did one face at a time for ease of organization.  And because I was running back and forth from one craft to the other as I waited for each side's Mod Podge to dry.

Coat one side of your first block with Mod Podge.  Help me out, experienced Mod Podgers--should it be a thin or thick coat?  Because I sometimes had to squish down ripply paper regardless.  Another lady there did say that you could use a library card, etc, to carefully push out bubbles, but I didn't try it.  (Why?  Well, mostly because I was hurrying, trying to get all three crafts done that night.)

Anyways, after your thin-or-thick coat of Mod Podge, carefully put on one of your pumpkin squares.  You have to get it where you want it pretty quickly, while the Mod Podge is still really wet, because once it starts to dry, the paper's not really going anywhere.

Put another coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper.  Make sure to get the edges really well, since that's where these blocks will take the most beating when they get played with.

Repeat with one side of each block.

Take a break while that side dries.  (If I'd been at home when I did this project, I totally would have taken a hair dryer to it--I'm not much of one for waiting for things to dry.)

And just do that for each side.   Be sure to have the same feature always on the same block.

Like so.

Now you can put together your jack-o-lantern however you'd like!

Um, that's not what I meant, Boo, but why not? 

Happy crafting!

{Here are the jack-o-lanterns to print out.  Remember that each pumpkin needs to be 6x6 inches, so make sure your computer doesn't try to scale them when they print.}

(Right click, "Save to Downloads" or similar command)

"Happy Haunting" Sign--Day 1 of the Nameless Halloween Series

(Are you looking for the My Memories giveaway?  Click here.  Remember, the winner will be announced on Wednesday, so hurry and enter!)
(This giveaway is now closed.)

Don't you just love Halloween?  All the silly fun of dressing up, decorating the house, eating strange-looking foods...


There are so many fun things to do for  Halloween that I want to dedicate all of October to Halloween projects!  I'm going to try to post something most days, so cross your fingers for me.  It's a lot more blogging than I'm used to, but there's just so many projects I want to do, and of course I want to share them with you!

(I'm trying to come up with a fun name for my Halloween extravaganza, but all I've got so far is "Days of  Halloween."  Can anyone help me out with a fun title?) 

Anyway, first on my list of Halloween crafts is this "Happy Haunting" sign.

 

I'm really happy with how this turned out--Mr. MadeIt even loves it.  He told me-- repeatedly, and without my even asking for his opinion--that he likes it.  Which means he likes it A LOT.  (Wo-hoo!)

And to make this project even better, it was practically free.  (Ah, I love practically-free craft projects.)

Here's what you need:

some wood--I  used a 5" by 15" board  from a pallet my dad had hanging around

black craft paint

orange craft paint

sandpaper

chalk

my templates, or you could make your own.  The font I used was Mesquite Std.  (I'm putting my templates at the bottom of this post.)

normal painting supplies--brushes, something to protect your work surface (which I forgot about when I took this picture), etc

Your first step is to lightly sand your board.  You want your board to still be rough; just make sure you aren't going to be skewered with splinters.

Next step:  Paint it black.  And then paint it orange.  (This is so the black can show through when you distress the board later.)  How thick you make your orange layer is up to you.  You can still see some black through my orange coat, which I think adds to the old/distressed feel I'm going for.

Next, transfer the words from the template onto your board.  I used the same method for this project as I did for the Mother's Day signs that I made. 

 

(I love using that trick.)

Now you just paint in your letters with black.  

The last step is to distress your sign.  Pull out your sandpaper again and have at it.  Focus on the corners and edges, since those are the surfaces that get the most wear and tear through normal handling.  Feel free to sand down to bare wood in some places.

If you get a little too excited about the whole distressing process (like I did)  and decide that you took off too much paint, you can fix it.  Just touch up the paint, being sure to blend out around the edges so your touch-ups aren't noticeable.

And that's all there is to it!  Now you just have to choose the best place to display your fabulous (new) old sign.  I sat mine on top of  our front door (on the inside) so we will see it on our way out and be inspired for our Halloween activities.  

Happy crafting!  And Happy Halloween!

For these templates, the words are  sized to fit on their own 8.5" by 11" paper.

Right click on each picture, save it to your computer, and print.

Perpetual Calendar Tutorial

I like to-do lists.  Mostly, I like checking things off of a to-do list.  I have been known to write something I've already done on my to-do list just so I can check it off.  It makes me feel productive.

Checking things off a a to-do list:  fun.  Writing the same things on the to-do list every day:  not fun.  So I decided to make myself a perpetual calendar, with my daily things already written on it.  I made this with materials I gathered up things from around my house, so this project was free!  (My favorite kind of project!)

I started off with a 11x14 picture frame I already had that wasn't being used.  (I picked that size so I would have plenty of space for writing, but you can use whatever size you like.)  I like the clean look of a glossy white frame, so I spray painted the frame with paint I bought for another project, but haven't used yet.

(Oops!  My cardboard didn't catch all the overspray!)

Next, I drew out a calendar grid on some scrapbook paper from a pack of paper that will eventually become a scrapbook for Boo (I'm not really a scrapbooker...) and wrote in all my to-do's.  Man, this took forever!  I don't think I'll write it out by hand next time.

So I made a couple of calendar blanks for you to use (and me, when my calendar needs to be updated).  I made them up in two sizes, regular printer paper size and legal paper size, if your printer can print at that size.  Or you could have it printed at Kinkos, or some such place.  (Just right click and save your chosen calendar to your computer.)

Next, I cut my 12x12 scrapbook paper down to 11" tall, and I cut a couple of strips of a different scrapbook paper to add to the sides to make my calendar 11x14.

I used the cardboard back for the picture frame as a guide for how large my calendar needed to be.

And there it is!  I have all my regular to-do's, plus weekly events like Scouts on Wednesdays and Date Nights on Friday.  (Hurray for that!)  And since the calendar is behind glass, I can use a dry erase marker to write in the month and dates and unusual things like doctor's appointments, birthdays, and the like.  Now I just need to hang it up.  Maybe I should write that on my to-do list calendar...

I'm Guest Posting at Momma's Kinda Crafty!

I'm guest posting at Momma's Kinda Crafty today!  It's my first guest post; I'm so excited!  My post is a tutorial on making a Growth Stick.  What is that, you wonder?  Here's a hint:

Intrigued?  Then click on over to my amazing guest post to find out more.  :)

UPDATE:  This blog doesn't seem to be up anymore!  Never fear, I have reposted the tutorial on my own blog.  Just click on over for my DIY Growth Chart.

Happy Mother's Day! and a Tutorial

Hi all!  I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day.  Ours was great; we went to church, my wonderful hubby made his delicious spaghetti, and Hailey took a long nap.  I even got a nap, too.  What more could the mother of a toddler ask for?

Here's what I made for my mom and mom-in-law for Mother's Day.  (I haven't actually gotten my MIL's present shipped off yet, so I hope she doesn't read this yet...)  Of course, depending on the words you choose, this project would make a great gift for any occasion.

It was really pretty easy and fairly quick to make.  Here's what you need:

--some wood--mine was 1 x 4 x 12 inches

--sidewalk chalk, charcoal or soft graphite pencil (if your background color is dark, use the chalk.  If it is light, use the charcoal or graphite.)

--a pencil or other moderately pointy object
--the base paint (black spray paint, in my case)
--the paint for the letters (extra paint from refinishing Hailey's dresser--hopefully we can get that project finished soon.)  NOTE:  You could cut the letters out of vinyl, and this would probably be faster.
--a small paintbrush
--a computer and printer (or stencils, or you could just be awesome and freehand the letters)

--optional:  picture hanging hardware of your choice

Ready?  Okay, first you'll want to figure out exactly how you want the text to be.  I used photoshop, but anything will work just fine.  Print it out.

Now that you know how long the sign needs to be, you can cut the wood to size.  Sand if needed, and spray paint your base color.

Once the paint is dry, you are ready to transfer your text onto your sign.  Here I have all my supplies gathered...

(I was kidding myself when I thought that paintbrush might work.  Yeah, right.  Luckily, I realized I was crazy before I started painting, and switched it out for a much smaller brush.)

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you my genius idea.  The chalk and the paint could both be messy, so I thought to use a large kitchen garbage bag to protect my table.  Then I thought, If I turn the bag inside out first, then when I'm done, I can flip it back the right way and all the chalk dust and paint will already be inside the garbage bag!  I love easy clean-up.

Use the chalk (charcoal, whatever) to color all over the back of the paper opposite the letters.  (I thought about taking a picture of this step, but the light green chalk on white paper...it wouldn't have worked out.)  Position the words where you want them to be on the sign (chalk side down) and trace around the letters with your pencil.

Ta-da!

Now paint the letters...  (It took me two or three coats to get the letters nice and cleanly white--no black showing through.  About this time, I wished I'd just cut the things out of white vinyl.)

Let the paint dry completely, then use a slightly damp cloth to wipe off the extra chalk.  (Don't use a paper towel--it leaves paper towel lint on the nice black surface.  Yes, I know from experience.)

Now you could attached hanging hardware, or just set the sign on a shelf, window, table...

And you're done!  I hope you liked the tutorial.  If you did, leave me a comment!  And if you have a question, I'd love to answer it.

Happy Mother's Day to all, and to all, a good night.